The Solomon Cole Band

With the release of their debut album 'Bruises' receiving rave reviews ( one of the years best releases by Mike Alexander Sunday Times) and reaching No. 19 on the NZ Local album charts, and number 11 on the Independent NZ Music Albums, and nominated for best debut album in 2016 for The Taite Music Prize, The Solomon Cole Band gathered a rock'n'roll momentum.

'Bruises' unleashed the band's full arsenal of blues with a melancholy, raw and ethereal sonic power and the infectious trance like stomp of redemption and soul power. Mix that with the formidable kick drum swagger of one of NZ's sexiest drummers, Dione Denize, and this quartet (all the way from the lush bohemian setting of Waiheke Island) are the most dance worthy rock'n'roll band in the country bar none. The ultimate blues crossover, they've opened for Martha Davis & The Motels, My Baby (Europe), The Animals and more.

Their aim was to create a set of explosive and exalted indie-trance driven swamp blues that NZ Blog 13th Floor referred to as "hearkening a cross between QOTSA , The Black Keys and Tina Turner". The band also cite somewhere between artists like The John Spencer Blues Explosion, Howlin' Wolf,Mark Lannegan, Massive Attack, various electronica and Led Zeppelin, adding that trance type boogie in a modern take on traditional music.

Graham Reid of Elsewhere wrote:

"Well, welcome to the thunder-dome of guitars (Stevie Ray!), wall-shaking intensity and the nail-hard vocals of Sophia Fa'alogo ( former co-lead vocalist for The Solomon Cole Band)"

The Bruises Tour extended through to April 2017 with dates in Australia as well as strengthening their connections to European soil, then the band will be back in the studio with engineer Nick Abbott (The Datsuns, Goldenhorse) to start work on the follow up record.

BRUISES VIDEO RELEASE

"BRUISES" the debut album made the Top 20 NZ Local Albums in its first week of release at number 19, and number 8 on Heat Seekers Fastest Rising Chart. A monumental achievement for the band. It also rose to number 11 on the Independent NZ Albums Chart.

The Solomon Cole Band made the list of nominees for last years Taite Music Prize 2017 for 'Bruises"- the band were also in the nominees for best album debut of 2016.

The subsequent video was filmed by director Amber Beaton.

A LITTLE SOUTH OF HEAVEN

The power of four in a new formation. "A Little South Of Heaven" is the forthcoming record. Again things are heating up as the band prepares for the release of their 2nd album, engineered and produced by Nick Abbott once more. The ethos this time around is to record fully analog, keeping only to 8 tracks in order to try and make the biggest noise we can within the confines of that sonic parameter.

RING YOUR BELL (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

BLAST FROM THE PAST - 3RD GIG 2014 (OPENING FOR THE MOTELS)

LISTEN TO BRUISES

The Solomon Cole BandBruises(Aeroplane)★★★★In a day and age of the body electric, The Solomon Cole Band might seem passe. Don't be fooled though. This four-piece, hewn from the rock that's Waiheke island, has all the hallmarks of classic blues-based rock where Cole's muddy guitar lines are reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, who could easily have written the strutting Littler Sister. Cole's vocals are the dark side of Miss Sophie's soulfulness and it works a charm on the ballsy Ring Your Bell and the booze-barn drive of Sweet Ruby. With a tight rhythm tension that has the elasticity of a bungee rope, The Solomon Cole Band have hit the motherlode.

Mike Alexander

13th Floor Interview with Marty Duda

Watch The Solomon Cole Band perform three songs and talk to Marty Duda at The 13th Floor.

MORE ABOUT THE SOLOMON COLE BAND-KEEP IT SEXY!

All Photography by Peter Rees, Blair Quax & Graham Hooper

Here's what the reviews said:

"With a tight rhythm section that has the elasticity of a bungee rope, The Solomon Cole Band have hit the motherlode" ****

Mike Alexander, Sunday Star Times

"Raw and evidently talented, let them Ring Your Bell."

Ania Glowacz, NZ Musician

"These guys have obviously been long time devoted students of the school of rock and in this album they're teaching a master class in how to rock like the greats. "

Solomon Cole (Derek Solomon) is also a published member of Songbroker via Aeroplane Music, has previously released records with bassist Lee Catlin and former vocalist Sophia Faalogo under the name Payola ( Gone To Ground via Jayrem Records & Dirt and Stars) and was also vocalist with Auckland stoner-blues rock band These Automatic Changers (alongside bassist Lee Catlin) who released the record Have Mercy in 2014, and recently supported internationals such as Uriah Heap, Ace Frehley (ex KISS) and Pop Will Eat Itself.

Together they have combined their respective talents into The Solomon Cole Band that has a growing reputation as a superb live show that takes the raw soul vibe of early Ike & Tina Turner, and lathers it with a hard blues guitar stomp and delivers low-brow, thigh shuddering rock and soul music to full houses wherever they go.

BRUISES will be available worldwide on all digital formats from 14th October 2016 via Aeroplane Music Records

ABOUT THE ALBUM

For two years The Solomon Cole Band have played to packed shows wherever they roam. In that time, 10 songs always stood out that connected with audiences, and these songs have made the record. The band made contact with Nick Abbott upon his sudden arrival home after 13 years in LA and the UK. He'd since worked with Robert Plant, Rihanna and numerous international acts in his tenure away. All this alongside local albums previously by Goldenhorse & The Datsuns, Nick was an ideal choice to take the raw bones of what The Solomon Cole Band had, and amplify it in a way the quartet hadn't thought of.

Nick states, "I had been back in the country for a few weeks when Derek asked if I’d be interested in having a go at mixing Ring Your Bell, the first single off what would become the ‘Bruises’ album. Having no expectations is a powerful thing. As is instinct, I wallowed in the raw rhythm section of Dione Denize and Lee Catlin, wrestled the monstrosities of Derek’s guitars and marvelled in the power of ( former vocalist) Miss Sophia’s timeless vocals. I had freedom and I took chances."

"Why?"

"Why not.Why not surprise and enthral at every turn? Why not turn this on its head?"

"Anyway. I sent the mix with trepidation. I’d seriously messed with this song. But incredibly the band loved it, and we kept moving forward. It’s been a pleasure to work on this record. The natural power of the playing, the timelessness of the writing and oh! that singing is a joy to sculpt. ‘Bruises’ is a monument to a scene, a freedom and independence. Long may it continue."

And so it came to pass, the album we had started had become an entirely different beast. Solomon says, "It no longer became the process of recording songs as they were rehearsed, but continually writing right up until the final mix, as Nick's approach would inspire new things for Lee and I."

'Bruises' includes live favourites like Lazy Boy, with it Zeppelinesque riff and snake-like groove, the Mark Lanegan sounding title track, and the glam boogie of Little Sister. Ring Your Bell has the archetypal ZZ Top guitar figure wrapped up in a story of double entendres and Alimony rounds out the record in fine southern harmony meets guitar crunch.

MEDIA

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Mike Alexander (Sunday Star Times) calls Bruises one of this years best releases